Dallas, Texas 10/10/2013 (Financialstrend) – On October 7, drug maker Cell Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CTIC) announced that it has entered into a agreement with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the modalities of the “special protocol assessment” that it will follow to conduct phase 3 clinical trials code named PERSIST 2. The clinical trials will be initiated to evaluate the effectiveness of evaluating its compound “pacritinib” in treating patients who are suffering from Myelofibrosis. These patients exhibit clinical condition of reduced red blood platelet counts due to bone marrow malfunction.
In the statement the drug manufacturer acknowledged that FDA has been working closely with the company to arrive at a mutually agreeable SPA agreement. James A. Bianco, the President and CEO of CTIC has commented that “As a result of the SPA, which established agreement on trial design to support regulatory approval, we expect that we will be able to initiate this pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of pacritinib by the end of the year.”
Readers should note that Myelofibrosis is a debilitating disease which results in acute shortfall in the production of new platelets due to the bone marrow losing its power to reproduce red blood cells. Initial test results of administering “pacritinib” into Myelofibrosis patients have shown substantive improvements in symptoms which resulted in increased production of platelets and red blood cells.
On the back of this positive announcement, the stock of CTIC has managed to appreciate by close to 5.08% during a single day of trading on October 9. The share price of this $200 million market cap company has appreciated by close to 73% over the past 90 days. This has taken the stock price to valuations which are just 4.6% below its 52 week high valuations. This also represents a 91% uptake on its 52 week low pricing.